Improvement in corsets



S. B. FERRIS.

CORSET.

Patented March 6,1877.

UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

SHERWOOD B. FEB/RIS, OF BROGKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORSETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 188,007, dated March 6, 1877; application tiled February 6, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, SHERWooD B. FERRIs, of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented an Improved Corset, of which the following is a specification:

Figure l is a perspective view of my im proved corset; Fig. 2, a detail vertical section through the bosom portion thereof; Fig. 3, an inner face view ot' the half bosom-pad; Fig. 4, a detail view of a section of the Wedgegore used in the slit of the corset. Fig. 5, a detaili t 'W of vu1u Een si of the cors t; Fig. 6, a partial face View; and Fig. 7, a cross-section of one edge of the corset, showing how the springs are held in place. Figs. 8, 9, 10, 1l, and l2 are detail face views, showing various kinds of paperstiffener used in said corset.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The principal feature of this invention is the use of flat paper strips as stiifeners for ladies corsetsy and for the pads and gore pieces pertaining thereto. These paper stiEeners are stitched into the pockets, which are formed in the corset and are, or may be, provided with additional stiifeners in the form of whalebone, metal, or other material. If it is not desired to stitch the paper into the corset it may be held in closed pockets thereof. The invention also consists in other details of construction of the corset, hereinafter more fully described.

The letter A in the drawing represents the body of the corset, made of suitable fabric, of suitable shape, and of customary style, to be supplied with springs in front and with lacings at the side. The pockets, which are formed in this corset for the reception of the stiening devices, are supplied with strips of paper a a, such paper being sufficiently' stiff to give shape to the garment, and yet sufficiently elastic to allow the .garment to yield to the motion of the wearer. The paper may receive additional strength by combining it with strips b of whalebone, as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10, and also in Fig. 8, or with strips of other material, at those parts of the corset where still greater strength may be desired; but forall ordinary purposes I deem stiff paper to be sufficient Without additional strengthening. The paper may, if desired, be perforated to render it more fully Ventilating, and may be used in upright strips or diagonal, if desired.

The bosom-pad B of the corset may also be stiened with paper, with substantially the same effect as bosom-pads are heretofore stift'- ened With other material. Even the triangular gore-piece C, which I propose to use in the slit of the corset, whenever it is desired to Widen the same, may be stiffened with paper. This gore-piece in itself constitutes part of my invention, for I provide it with eyelets or holes along both edges, so that, when needed, it may be laced into openings in the corset, and when not needed may be entirely removed therefrom. Y

Another feature of my invention consists in the use of a bosom-pad, B, which is directly attached to the main body of the corset, Where the same is not slit. This bosom-pad I propose to fasten by one or more buttons, d, or other fastening, and to stifen it with paper or equivalent material, and it may, in addition, be lightly stitched along the upper edge of the corset, and may be readily removed by loosening the button or stitching, in which case the corset remains complete in every respect. At the edge of the corset where the steel D is introduced (see Figs. 6 and 7) I leave a projecting flap or strip, g, which extends beyond the seam h that secures the steel D in place, as shown in Fig. 7. This strip g permits me, when the steel is to be replaced, to substitute a Wider or a narrower steel, as may be desired, and does not, as is now always the case, conne the corset to a certain Width of steel. I am, also, more readily enabled to open the seam li when I have the means, g, of handling the parts there sewed together.

Furthermore, my invention consists in applying a flap, z', to the inner side of the corset, behind the lacing, the Hap being of sufficient width to allow the various degrees of expansion of the corset, and yet prevent the lacing from cutting into the body. A similar Hap may be applied over the outer side of the lacing, if desired, but not necessarily so.

I claim as my invention- 1. A corset provided with flat paper as stiffening devices, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The combination of a corset-body, A, with the semicircular bosom-pad B, whose straight lower edge is directly joined to the body, so that the body will constitute the lower half ofthe pad, substantially as herein shown and described. 

